Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of fabricating a mask for a semiconductor device, comprising: applying a first photoresist film on a silicon wafer; sequentially forming a first insulation film, a second insulation film, and a second photoresist film on the first photoresist film; patterning the second photoresist film by an etching process; patterning the first and second insulation films by etching using the patterned second photoresist film as a mask; patterning the first photoresist film by etching using the patterned first and second insulation films, and the patterned second photoresist film as a mask; removing the second photoresist film; etching a predetermined portion of the first insulation film; depositing a metal on the silicon wafer and on at least one of the first photoresist film, the first insulation film having the predetermined etched portion, and the second insulation film; and removing the first photoresist film, and the first and second insulation films from the silicon wafer.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein a third insulation film substitutes for the first photoresist film.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the third insulation film is a silicon nitride film.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first insulation film is formed of silicon oxide (SiO.sub.2) or spin-on-glass (SOG) when the first insulation film is etched using a buffer oxide etch (BOE) solution.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second insulation film is formed of silicon nitride (Si.sub.3 N.sub.4) when the second insulation film is etched using a buffer oxide etch (BOE) solution.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second insulation films respectively have different etching rates when being etched by a buffer oxide etch (BOE) solution.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of the patterned first insulation film is etched by an isotropic wet-etching process.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein etching the predetermined portion of the first insulation film exposes a surface portion of the patterned first photoresist film.
9. A method for fabricating a mask for a semiconductor device, comprising: providing a first photoresist pattern on a wafer, an insulating pattern on the first photoresist pattern, and a second photoresist pattern on the insulating pattern; etching the insulating pattern to expose a surface portion of the first photoresist pattern; depositing metal on exposed portions of the wafer and above the insulating pattern, the surface portion of the first photoresist pattern remaining exposed after the metal is deposited; and removing the first photoresist pattern, the insulating pattern, the second photoresist pattern and the metal deposited above the insulating pattern.
10. The method recited by claim 9, wherein providing the first photoresist pattern, the insulating pattern and the second photoresist pattern comprises: depositing a first photoresist film on the wafer; depositing an insulating film on the first photoresist film; depositing a second photoresist film on the insulating film; forming the second photoresist pattern by etching the second photoresist film; forming the first insulating pattern by etching the first insulating film using the second photoresist pattern as a mask; and forming the first photoresist pattern by etching the first photoresist film using the second photoresist pattern and first insulating pattern as masks.
11. The method recited by claim 10, further comprising: depositing a second insulating film on the insulating layer, before the second photoresist film is deposited; forming a second insulating pattern by etching the second insulating film using the second photoresist pattern as a mask; and removing the second photoresist pattern, wherein the second insulating pattern is used as a mask for forming the insulating pattern and the first photoresist pattern.
12. The method recited by claim 11, wherein etching the first insulating pattern to expose a portion of the first photoresist pattern is performed after the second insulating pattern is formed.
13. A method of fabricating a mask for a semiconductor device comprising: applying a first photoresist film on a silicon wafer; sequentially forming a first insulation film, a second insulation film, and a second photoresist film; exposing a portion of an upper surface of the second insulation film by patterning the second photoresist film; patterning the first and second insulation films by etching using the patterned second photoresist film as a mask; patterning the first photoresist film by etching using the patterned first and second insulation films as mask, the second photoresist pattern being removed simultaneously with a portion of the first photoresist film to be etched; etching a predetermined portion of the first insulation film; depositing a metal on the silicon wafer and on at lest one of the first photoresist film, the first insulation film having the predetermined etched portion, and the second insulation film; and removing the first photoresist film, and the first and second insulation films from the silicon wafer.
14. A method of fabricating a mask for a semiconductor device, comprising: applying a first photoresist film on a silicon wafer; sequentially forming a first insulation film, a second insulation film, and a second photoresist film on the first photoresist film; forming a second photoresist pattern by an etching process; patterning the first and second insulation films by etching using the second photoresist pattern as a mask; patterning the first photoresist film by an etching process; etching a predetermined portion of the first insulation film; depositing a metal on the silicon wafer and on at least one of the fist photoresist film, the first insulation film having the predetermined etched portion, and the second insulation film; and removing the first photoresist film and the first and second insulation films from the silicon wafer, wherein the second photoresist pattern is used as a mask for patterning the first photoresist film and is removed before metal is deposited.
15. A method of fabricating a mask for a semiconductor device, comprising: applying a first photoresist layer on a silicon wafer; sequentially forming a first insulating layer and a second photoresist layer on the first photoresist layer; patterning the second photoresist layer to form a second photoresist pattern; patterning the first insulating layer using the second photoresist pattern as mask; etching and patterning the first photoresist layer using the patterned first insulating layer and the second photoresist pattern as a mask; further etching the patterned first insulating layer to expose a surface portion of the patterned first photoresist layer; depositing metal using a surface of the second photoresist pattern to shield the exposed surface portion of the patterned first photoresist layer; and removing the patterned first photoresist layer, the patterned first insulating layer and the second photoresist pattern.
16. The method as recited by claim 15, further comprising: depositing a second insulating layer on the first insulating layer, before the second photoresist layer is deposited; forming a second insulating pattern by etching the second insulating film using the second photoresist pattern as a mask; and removing the second photoresist pattern, wherein the second insulating pattern is used as a mask for forming the patterned first insulating layer and the patterned first photoresist layer .
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Unknown
June 27, 2000
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